Untitled by Nath Relph, on Flickr
Untitled by Nath Relph, on Flickr
The car started off life as a 1984 850cc auto Mayfair. In 1997 I purchased it and the car was given a full bare shell restoration taking a year to complete. An MG Metro engine and 4 speed manual gearbox were sourced, reconditioned and fitted. Many body panels were replaced and every moving part was replaced/reconditioned, it was basically a new car. I enjoyed using it for 3 years covering 15.5k miles until it was put into dry storage.
Full spec at the time as follows…
Body shell
Repairs to the following
Boot floor
Rear wheel arches
Rear quarter panels
Floor pan
Front scuttle
Inner wings
Door pillars (both repaired and strengthened)
Passenger and driver doors
Renewal of the following
Battery tray
Rear valance
Inner sills
Outer sills
Front wings
Front panel
Bonnet
A panels
N.B. All panels genuine B.L.
Modification to the following
Front wheel arches enlarged and glass fibre arch extensions bonded, riveted and blended to wings. Rear wheel arches enlarged inner and outer skins re-welded. Inner arch re-shaped and blended, glass fibre outer arches bonded, riveted and blended to rear quarter panel.
Completed body shell cleaned and prepared (floor anti-boom repaired). Zinc coated, seams resealed, under body and wheel arches, sills front and rear valances stone chipped. Etch primed, two pack primer filler and completely glossed in two pack. Under body, box sections and cavities Waxoyl protected.
Outer Bright Work & Ancillaries
Bright work renewed
Grill and trims
Bonnet trims
Head lamp rims
Indicator rims
Wipers/washers
Door and boot handles
Front and rear bumpers
Door trims
Front and rear window trims
Ancillaries renewed
Halogen headlamps
Indicator assemblies
Side repeaters
Roof aerial
Sunroof
Front and rear window rubbers
Rear fog lamps
Interior
New floor sound deadening and carpets
Cobra bucket seats and locking sub frames
Complete interior colour matched and re-trimmed by Cobra
Three point Luke harnesses
Custom made dashboard incorporating immobiliser, voltmeter, rev-counter, oil pressure, glove box and stereo
Tweeters incorporated in upper dashboard
Front speakers incorporated in door panels
Rear parcel shelf incorporating speakers
Electrical & Security
Immobiliser fitted to three circuits (lights, ignition and starter)
Sparkrite alarm with ultra-sonic
Concealed battery cut off switch
Twin horns with relay
Twin 30 amp headlamp relays
097 H/D battery.
Steering
Renewed
Rack and pinion
Track rod ends
Steering column bushes
13” steering wheel.
Wheels & Tyres
7” x 13” Minilites with Dunlop 175 x 50 x 13 tyres
Chrome wheel nuts incorporating lock nuts.
Suspension
All parts removed from sub-frames, cleaned, repaired and Hammerite coated
Fitted all new bearings, bushes, joints, rubber bushes
Hi-Lo ride adjusters
Spax gas adjustables
Rear sub frame Hammerite protected.
Front sub frame sand blasted and Hammerite protected
Both sub frames solid mounted
Braking System
Front Brakes
Calliper seals replaced
New disc pads
New discs
New braided and copper hose and pipes
Rear Brakes
Wheel cylinders replaced
New shoes and return springs
New handbrake cables
New braided and copper hoses and pipes
Master cylinder reconditioned.
Engine
MG Metro 1275 fitted
Engine block rebored +020”
New pistons
Crank shaft re-ground +010”
New shells
Re-profiled std camshaft and followers
Duplex timing chain
Cylinder head de-coked and re-ground valves
All new gaskets and seals
All engine ancillaries renewed
All mounts and bushes renewed
Additional stabiliser fitted
K&N air filter
Play mini stainless steel exhaust system
Gearbox & Differential
Fully re-conditioned
Idle gear bearings renewed
Clutch replaced
All gaskets and seals renewed
Clutch master and slave cylinders re-conditioned
Stereo
Kenwood Mask CD Player
Front Speakers & Tweeters – JBL
Rear Speakers – JBL 6x9s
Amplifier – JBL
I have lots of invoices, at the time £7k was spent (a lot of money especially back then)!
Photos from the rebuild…
I didn’t plan for it to be left unused for 18 years but as always life got in the way and aside from the occasional start up and turn of the wheels it hasn’t been out of storage since. Being a Mini, used daily at the time, obviously the bodywork condition has suffered. Overall it’s still very solid but some welding and repainting is required, photos below show the bad bits…
https://www.flickr.c...th_relph/4f37Bf
As the photos show the worst parts are at the front of the floor behind the front wheels. Obviously there’s a good few areas on the outside requiring attention (front and rear lower valances, door repair panel joints, under sill lip, A Panel seems, where arches meet) everywhere else is good. The fiberglass arches have also cracked in places so would need sorting. In my youth I decided to mount a subwoofer to the back seat so sadly there is a hole in the rear bulkhead. The wheels need refurbing due to the odd kerb and corrosion under the lacquer. Lastly the headlining could do with replacing as some odd marks have appeared.
I’ve just changed the oil and fuel to get it running and replaced the following…
Battery
Fuel pump
Fuel tank sender
Ignition barrel (return spring failed)
I had it running smoothly a month or so back but it has since been stood up and now it’s temperamental, it obviously needs a good tune up, brakes and electrics are all fully working.
I had always planned to strip it down again and fully rebuild it back to its former glory but as time goes by I am wondering if I’ll ever have the spare time to do this, hence this thread.
Any opinions on value greatly appreciated so I can decide whether it’s worth selling or holding onto.
